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"Convincing Heero"Written By: Hemlock Inyx Disclaimer: This chick does not own any of the
Gundam Wing characters because they belong to Bandai and Sunrise.
I am borrowing them for this fict and will return them
in good (if somewhat sticky) condition. I also don't own Nora Robert's
Convincing Alex, on which this fict is heavily based (well more like
a fusion/translation). This fict is written out of love and not for
profit, don't sue. Thanks and enjoy! Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU Romance/Cop Drama, Cross-dressing/drag,
humor, romance, some OOC-ness, language, and murder- not main characters.
Pairings: 1x2, 4xC for added interest. More pairings
to come. Summary: Heero is a cop, Duo is a cross-dressing man who writes for a daytime soap opera. The pair meet when Duo is arrested doing 'research' for the soapie.
" Convincing Heero" Chapter 13 "And then," Duo continued as he zipped through traffic, "Jade turns back, devastated, and says, 'But what you want isn't always what you need.' Music swells, fade out." "It's not that I'm not fascinated by the twists and turns of those people in Holbrook..." "Millbrook." "Right." Heero winced as Duo cut off a sedan. "It would be really embarrassing if you got a ticket while I was in the car with you." "I'm not speeding." Frowning , Duo glanced down at his speedometer. "Hardly." Duo handled the five-speed like a seasoned veteran of the Indianapolis 500, Heero thought. And at the moment he was treating the other, innocent drivers on the road like competitors. "Maybe you could find a home in one lane and stay there." "Killjoy." But Duo did as he asked. "I hardly ever get to drive. I love it." Heero had to smile. The wind whipping in through the open sunroof was blowing Duo's braid everywhere. "I'd never have guessed." "The last time I had a chance was when Wufei and I went to some fancy to-do on Long Island." Duo checked his mirror and, unable to resist, shot into the next lane. "One trip with me and he insisted on taking his car and driver every damn place." Duo sent Heero a smile, then sobered instantly when he saw his expression. "I'm sorry." "For what?" "For bringing him up." "I didn't say anything." No, Heero hadn't said anything, Duo admitted. A man
didn't have to say a word when his eyes could go that cold. Duo's
hands tightened on the wheel. "I didn't ask one way or the other," Heero said coolly. "Maybe you should. One minute you want to know all there is about me, and the next you don't, I think-," "I think you're driving too fast again." Heero reached over and brushed his knuckles down Duo's cheek. "And you should relax. Okay?" "Okay." But Duo's fingers remained tight on the wheel. "I'd like-sometime-for us to talk about it." "Sometime." Damn it, didn't Duo realize he didn't want to talk about the other men who'd been a part of Duo's life? Heero didn't want to think about them. Especially now, now that he was in love, and Heero knew what it was like to be with Duo. Heero knew the sound of that little sigh Duo made when
he turned toward him in the night. The way his eyes stayed unfocused
and heavy, long after he awakened in the morning. Heero knew Duo liked
his showers too hot and too long. And that Duo smelled so good because
he rubbed some fragrant cream all over before he'd even dried off. Heero knew those things, was coming to treasure them. Why should he talk about other men who had come to know them? "Turn here." "Hmm?" "I said turn..." Heero trailed off with a huff of breath as Duo breezed by the exit. "Okay, take the next one, and we'll double back." "The next what?" "Turn, Maxwell." Heero reached over and gave Duo's braid a quick tug. "Take the next turn, which means you have to get over in the right lane." "Oh." Duo did, punching the gas and handily cutting off another car. At the rude blast of its horn, Duo only lifted a hand and waved. "He wasn't being friendly," Heero pointed out-after he took his hands from in front of his eyes. "I know. But that's no reason for me to be rude, too." "Some people consider cutting off another driver rude." "No. That's an adventure." Somehow they made it without mishap. But the moment Duo had squeezed into a parking place two doors down from Heero's parents' row house, Heero held out his hand. "Keys." Sulking, Duo jingled them in his hand. "I didn't get a ticket." "Probably because there wasn't a traffic cop brave
enough to pull you over. Let's have them, Maxwell. I've had enough
adventure for one day." "It's a survival thing." Heero plucked the keys from Duo's hand. "I just want to live." Not that he was going to object to handling the natty little Mercedes. But Heero decided against bringing that up as they climbed out of opposite doors. "Pretty neighborhood," Duo commented, taking in the trees and freshly painted house trim and flowering plants, the scatter of kids riding over the uneven sidewalk on bikes and skateboards. A few of them called out to Heero. Duo found himself being given the once-over by a group of teenage boys before they sent hoots and whistles and thumbs-up signs in Heero's direction. "Ah, the first stamp of approval." But Duo rubbed his damp palm surreptitiously against his skirt before taking Heero's hand, suddenly worried that he had dressed too feminine for the first family meeting. "Did you used to ride bikes along the sidewalk?" "Sure." Battling nerves, Duo strolled with him toward the house. "And sit on the curb in the summer and lie about girls?" "I was too busy beating up my sisters' boyfriends," Heero told him with a wicked grin. Heero glanced up the steps as the door opened and Treize came out, Mariemaia on his hip. "You're late again." Treize started down, jiggling Marie. "Duo missed the turn." "He's always late." Treize smiled. "You're Duo." "Yes. Hello." Duo held out a hand and found that his was hard as rock. Mariemaia had already leaned over to give Heero a kiss, and now, still puckered, she leaned toward Duo. Laughing, Duo pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "And hello to you, too, sweetheart." "Mariemaia likes the men," Treize told Duo. "Takes after her uncle." "Don't start," Heero muttered. Treize ignored him and continued to study Duo until he was fighting the need to squirm. "Do I have dirt on my face, or what?" "No, sorry." Treize shifted his gaze to his brother-in-law. "You're improving, Hee-ro," he said in Japanese. "This one is well worth a few sweaty mornings in the gym." "Baka." Heero skimmed a hand down the nape of Duo's neck. "If you tell Duo about that, I'll strangle you in your sleep." Treize's grin flashed. "Guy talk?" Duo asked. "Bad manners," Treize said apologetically, deciding he liked not only Duo's unusual looks, but the intelligence in his eyes, as well. Yes, indeed, he thought, Heero was definitely improving. "I was complimenting my brother-in-law on his taste. Take Duo in, Heero. Marie wants to watch the kids ride awhile." "Une?" Heero asked as he mounted the steps. "She's here, but she's tired." "She works too hard." "There is that." The grin spread again. "And she's pregnant." Heero stopped, turned. "Yeah?" He went down the steps again to catch Treize and Marie in a bear hug. "It's good?" "It's great. We want our children close, our family big." "You're off to the right start." Heero grabbed Duo's hand as Treize lifted Mariemaia onto his shoulders and crossed the street. Mariemaia was clapping her hands and shouting toddler gibberish to the other kids. "I'm still trying to get used to him being a papa, and now he's going to have another." Duo had forgotten his nerves. Perhaps the child's sweet, unaffected kiss had done it. Duo slipped an arm around Heero's waist. "Come on, Uncle Heero. I want to meet the rest of them." "They're loud," Heero warned as they started back towards the door. "I like loud." "They can be nosy." "So can I." At the door, Heero took both of Duo's hands. He'd brought lovers into his home before, but it had never been important. This was vital. "I love you, Duo." Before Duo could speak, Heero kissed him, then pushed open the door.
"So you write for TV." He nodded his head approvingly. "You have brains." "A few." Duo smiled up at Zechs when he offered him a glass of wine. "Noin says more than a few." Zechs sent his wife a wink as she sat with her hands folded over her enormous belly. "She's been watching your show." "Oh, yeah?" "I admit I was curious." Noin wanted to shift to get comfortable, but she knew it was useless. "After we met, I taped it a couple of times. Then, when I gave in to Zechs hounding me about taking maternity leave, I realized how easy it is to get hooked. I'm not sure I've got all the characters straight yet, but it's amazingly entertaining. Relena's caught it with me." She glanced at her sister-in-law. To her credit, Relena didn't blush, but she did squirm. "I was just keeping you company. It wasn't like I was really watching." Her blue eyes glinted with humor. "Except for the hotties." "That's what they all say." Duo smiled back, ready to join the teasing. "So, who's your type, Relena? Luke, our sensitive genius, with the big, brown eyes, who suffers in silence, or Mark, the player who uses his sexuality to blackmail the Millbrook elite?" Considering, Relena ran her tongue around her teeth. "Actually, I go for Storm. I've got this thing for older men. And cops." Zechs caught her in a headlock. "What's this about men?" "Hey." Relena laughed, not bothering to try to free herself. "We're having a conversation here." "Kill her in the other room, will you?" Heero said easily. "We have to eat in here." "I watch your show many times," Takako said as she popped in from the kitchen. Heero's mother's handsome face was flushed pink from oven heat. "I like it." "Well, that Vicki's not hard to watch." Zechs stood behind his wife now, rubbing her shoulders. "Men always go for the cheap floozies," Noin put in. "How about you, Heero? Caught any 'Secret Sins'?" "No." Not that he'd admit. "Maxwell keeps me up on what's happening in Millbrook." "It must be hard." Une, looking pale but blissfully relaxed in her corner of the couch, sipped her ginger ale. "The pace." "It's murder." Duo grinned. "I love." "So Duo, how did you meet Hee-ro?" Odin asked. "He arrested me." There was a moment of silence, while Heero aimed a killing look at Duo. Then a burst of laughter that sent the dog careening around the room again. "Did I miss a joke?" Treize demanded as he swung though the door with Mariemaia. "No." Noin chuckled again while her brother-in-law sat on the arm of the couch, beside his wife. "But I have a feeling it's going to be a good one. Come on, Duo, this I have to hear." Duo told them, while Heero interrupted a half-dozen times to disagree or correct or put in his own perspective. Even as they sat at the big old table to enjoy Takako's pot roast, they were shouting with laughter or calling out questions. "He put you in a cell, but you still go out with him." This from Treize. "Well." Duo ran his tongue over his teeth. "He is kind of cute." With a hearty laugh, Odin slapped his son on the back. "Everyone, they always say so." Heero scooped up potatoes. "Thanks, papa." "It's good to be attractive." Odin wiggled his brows at his wife. "Then, when you pick someone, they're helpless to resist." "I picked you," Takako told him, passing biscuits to Relena. "You were very slow. Like a bear with, ah..." She struggled for the right word. "Soft brains." She ignored Odin's snort of objection. "He did not come to court me. So I courted him." "Every time I turn, there she is. In my way." When Odin looked as his wife, Duo saw memories and more in his eyes. "There was no prettier girl in the village than Takako. Then she was mine." "I liked your big hands and shy eyes," she told him. Her smile was quick and lovely. "Soon you were not so shy. But my children," she added, turning the smile on Duo, "they were never shy." "Why waste time?" On impulse, Heero put a hand on Duo's cheek and turned his face towards him. Duo's smile was puzzled. Then surprise shot into Duo's eyes as Heero covered his mouth with his. Not a quick, friendly kiss, this, but as searing one that made Duo's head buzz. Duo had no way of knowing that Heero had never kissed
anyone at his mother's table. Nor that by doing so, Heero was telling
those he loved that this was the one. Takako blinked back tears and raised her glass. She understood what her son had told her and felt the bittersweet pleasure the came from knowing the last of her children had given his heart. "Welcome," she said to Duo. A little confused, Duo reached for his glass as all the others were lifted. "Thank you." He sipped, relieved when the chattering started again. How easy to fall in love with them, Duo realized. All of them were so warm, so open, so comfortable with each other. His parents would never have had such a sweetly intimate conversation at the table. Nor had they ever embraced him with the understanding and acceptance both Odin and Takako had showed him. Was this what he'd been missing all of those years? Duo wondered. Had lacking something like this caused him to be socially clumsy as a child, and, making up for it, so socially active as an adult? Still, what he had had, what he hadn't, had forged him
into what he was today, so Duo couldn't regret it. Well, perhaps a
little, he mused, falling unknowingly into the family tradition by
sneaking the dog bits of food under the table. It was hard not to
regret it a little when you saw how lovely it could be to be part
of such a solid whole. "Yes. I want to carve you." "I beg your pardon?" "Your face." Treize reached out to take Duo's chin in his hand. The conversation continued around them, as if Treize handled strangers at the dinner table regularly. "Very fascinating, Mahogany would be best." Amused, Duo sat patiently while Treize turned his face this way and that. "Is this a joke?" "Treize never jokes about his work," Une commented, coaxing one more green bean into her daughter. "I'm just surprised it's taken him so long to demand you sit for him." "Sit?" Duo shook his head, and then his eyes widened as it all came together. "Oh, of course. Khushrenada. The artist. I've seen your work. Lusted after it, actually." "You will sit for me, and I'll give you a piece. You'll choose it." "I could hardly turn down an offer like that." "Good." Satisfied, he went back to his meal. "He's very beautiful," Treize said to Heero, in such an offhand manner that Duo laughed. "I'd say that Khushrenada taste runs to the odd, but your wife proves me wrong." Treize brushed a hand over Une's rich, chocolate hair, stroked a finger down her classically lovely face. "There are different kinds of beauty. You'll come to the studio next week." "Don't bother to argue." Une caught Treize's hand, squeezed it. "It won't do you a bit of good." At the other end of the table, Noin winced. Takako leaned closer, spoke gently. "How far apart?" Noin gave a little sigh. "Eight, ten minutes. They're very mild yet." "What's mild?" Zechs glanced at her, and then his mouth all but dropped to his knees. "Oh, God, now? Now?" "Not this very minute." She would be calm, Noin told herself and took a deep, cleansing breath to prove it. "I think you have time for some of Mama's cream cake." "She's in labor." Zechs gaped across the table at his equally panicked sister. "We're not ready here." Relena stumbled to her feet. "We're ready back at home. I'm supposed to call the doctor, but I don't have the number." "Mama does," Noin assured her husband's younger sister. Then she lifted a hand to her husband. "Take it easy, Zechs. There's plenty of time." "Time, hell. We're going now. Shouldn't we go now?" Zechs demanded of Takako. She smiled and nodded. "It would be best for you, Zechs." "But, Mama-." Noin's protest was cut off by Takako's gentle flow of Japanese, the gist of which had a great deal to do with placating frightened husbands. "She should put her feet up," Treize announced. "This helped you, yes?" "Yes," Une agreed. "But I think we should wait until she gets to the hospital." "Nine-one-one." Heero shoved away from the table and sprang to his feet. "I'll call." "Oh, sit down." Noin waved an annoyed hand at him. "I don't need a cop." "An ambulance," Heero insisted. "I'm not sick, I'm in labor." "I take her in the truck." Odin was already up, prepared to lift his baby girl into his big arms. "We'll get there very fast." While the men began to argue in a mixture of languages, Takako rose quietly and went into the kitchen to call Noin's obstetrician. "I've already been though this," Treize was saying to Heero. "I know how to handle it." "Ha." Their father pushed them both aside and pounded a fist on his broad chest. "Four times. You know nothing." "We don't have the tape recorder or the music." Relena ran a hand through her sandy-blonde hair. She was desperately afraid she'd be sick. Though no one was listening to her, she continued to babble. "The video camera. We've got to get the video camera." "Honey, you want some water? You want some juice?" When Noin yelped, Zechs turned dead white. "Another one? It hasn't been ten minutes, has it?" "You're breaking my hand." Noin shook her hand free and sent a pleading look to Une. "Okay, guys, back off." The steel under velvet that made Une a successful businesswoman snapped into her voice. "Heero, go upstairs and get Noin a pillow for the ride. Odin, go start the truck. Nick, you, Treize and Marie go back to your apartment and get what Noin needs. We'll meet you at the hospital." "How will you get there?" Treize demanded. "I have a car." Duo was watching the family drama with fascinated eyes. "We can fit three in a pinch." "Wonderful." Dispersing the troops with all the flair of a general, Une gave her husband a kiss and a shove. "Get going. Zechs and Mama will ride with Papa and Noin. I'll go with Heero and Duo." As the next contraction hit, Noin began to breathe slowly, steadily. "Sorry," she said to Duo in between breaths, "to put you out." "No problem." Duo had to bite his tongue to prevent himself asking what it felt like to go into labor at a family dinner. There'd be time for that later. "I called the doctor, and Sylvia." Takako came back into the room, pleased that Une had organized the troops. "Sylvia and her family are coming." "We should go." Zechs helped Noin to her feet and swallowed hard. "Shouldn't we go?"
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